The World in Time

Eric Berkowitz

Friday, September 03, 2021

Roundel with allegorical scene of book burning, North Netherlandish, c. 1520.

Roundel with allegorical scene of book burning, North Netherlandish, c. 1520. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Cloisters Collection, 1992.

“The compulsion to silence others is as old as the urge to speak,” historian Eric Berkowitz writes in Dangerous Ideas: A Brief History of Censorship in the West, from the Ancients to Fake News, “because speech—words, images, expression itself—exerts power…Even in countries where free expression is cherished, we often forget that forgoing censorship requires the embrace of discord as a fair price for the general good. Tolerance is risky. Suppression, on the other hand, is logical—and across history, it has been the norm.”

 

In this episode of The World in Time, Lewis H. Lapham and Berkowitz discuss this history and consider the future of censorship and free speech.

 

Lewis H. Lapham speaks with Eric Berkowitz, author of Dangerous Ideas: A Brief History of Censorship in the West, from the Ancients to Fake News.

 

Thanks to our generous donors. Lead support for this podcast has been provided by Elizabeth “Lisette” Prince. Additional support was provided by James J. “Jimmy” Coleman Jr.

Discussed in this episode

More Podcasts

February 26, 2021

The World in Time:

Lance Morrow

Lewis H. Lapham speaks with the author of God and Mammon: Chronicles of American Money. More

July 14, 2011

The World in Time:

Trade Routes

Lewis Lapham talks with historian James Mather about a time when British foreign relations were more peaceful and diplomatic than they later became. More

April 17, 2017

The World in Time:

Andrew Bacevich

Lewis Lapham talks to Andrew J. Bacevich about America’s shift from the Cold War to war in the Middle East. More

November 09, 2018

The World in Time:

David Wootton

Lewis H. Lapham talks with David Wootton, author of Power, Pleasure, and Profit: Insatiable Appetites from Machiavelli to Madison. More

June 20, 2025

The World in Time:

Episode 3: Francine Prose

This week on the podcast, Donovan Hohn speaks with Francine Prose, author of 1974: A Personal History. More

December 03, 2021

The World in Time:

Geoffrey Wheatcroft

Lewis H. Lapham speaks with the author of Churchill’s Shadow: The Life and Afterlife of Winston Churchill. More